Reviews with content warning for Grief - Love in the Time of Cholera

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

17 reviews

linw21's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Absolutely beautifully written. However I‘m not the biggest fan of Florentino Ariza.

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romanticwaterlily's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Love the prose, hated the male protag. This isn't a love story, at least not between the two leads. Extremely funny, would have loved it if the misogyny and downright obsession of the main character was explored as anything but a positive attribute of love though.

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loryyyy's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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strabbyfieldz's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

i would've adored this book were it not for the bit about América Vicuña and all the other uncomfortable or wrong elements like the racism (I could be wrong but man, some of the descriptions of the Black characters felt anti-Black and also one of the main protags was like fairly racist???). Regardless of messaging or whatever with América, it felt pointless, uncomfortable as heck and rendered the touching(??) love story of the main protagonists much less easy to root for freely.

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lacifaeria's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This is a remarkable book about a lifelong epic preoccupation/obsession with some parts that definitely did not age well in the nigh 100 years since it was first published. Still, it was strange reading this now and seeing how many events/attitudes still featured prominently in an era ravaged by a pandemic. The section which preceded how Dr. Juvenal Urbino discovered Fermina Daza was dazzling in how succinct it was at providing a snapshot of pre-20th century medicine and sewage treatment while also feeling painfully familiar when detailing the reluctance he experienced in attempting to drag local medical methods towards the future in a community reliant on superstition and traditional methods of healing (although his being against vaccines was a bit disheartening).

And also love. How love, in all its pervasiveness and obsessiveness, seems to be the same, 100 years ago as it is now. It's beautifully written and some of the phrasing is majestically composed, even the parts that seem understated. If there was a way you could just cut the "America Vicuna" parts at the end (very uncomfortable), I think the rest is an eloquent examination of a lifelong focus, and how different people become in the pursuit of long-term goals.

The evolution of Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza, from the moment we really get to know them as teens experiencing the rush of first love to the end when, after entire lifetimes spent tucked away in their independent lives they reconnect as seasoned elders, was such an incredible journey. Both of theirs, with Fermina being courted by Dr. Juvenal Urbino and settling into a quiet familiar contented married life and with Florentino attempting to sate his desire for companionship in a variety of widows before, once again, returning to worship at the Altar of the Crowned Goddess. I thought it was the kind of perspective you don't usually get to see, with a level of pointed focus that would put an engineer to shame.

Though, at the end of the day, this was still a love story about two people spread out over several decades and the transition of two centuries, encapsulated in poignancy and heartbreak.

And, yeah, at the end, I was still rooting for Florentino, and for finding "Forever" after fifty-three years, seven months, and eleven days and nights.

I'm a softie and a romantic at heart.

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kate_303's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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allimoose37's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book essentially 350 pages of "redemption arc" of a dude who harbors a love for a woman (who marries/is married to someone else) for 50 plus years and chronicles all the sexual escapades (including grooming a minor), so that they can ride off on a riverboat into the sunset together in old age after she's a widow.

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